Kaori's Nemesis
by D.K.N
Summary: A new girl arrives at school, with the intent of becoming the top dog by any violent means necessary. Her next target: Kaori. Rated T for language.


Greetings

Greetings! I discovered Azumanga Daioh a couple of months ago, and I am hooked! So, after reading tons of fics here, I decided to come back with a story supporting my favorite AD pairing: Sakaki & Kaori! There aren't nearly enough S/K fics on ; why is that? Oh well – now there's one more! This takes place during their second year.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Azumanga Daioh. The character of Shiori Onamuri, however, is mine (albeit inspired by two other new bullies from different fics). The fic will start off with following her, but will eventually switch to focus on Kaori.

Also, for Sakaki & Kagura's last names: for Sakaki, I picked "Tsubaki" because it has a similar meaning to her first one. I had no such ideas for Kagura, so I just gave her the last name of her voice actor (Kuwashima).

--

Shiori Onamuri, the self-proclaimed 'Badass Bruiser', smirked. It was only her second day at Azu-Daioh High (AN: for lack of a better name) and she was already staking her claim over the place. So far, she had beaten up three of the "toughest" girls in the school… as well as two others that she thought didn't look at her right, plus one that just didn't get out of her way in time. (AN: don't worry: none of them were of our favorite seven).

She now stood over the scared form of a now-scared girl she had pulled aside for information. "Okay, meat" she said in her 'I'm-better-than-you' tone, "today could be your lucky day. I won't beat you up if you tell me what I want to know. Got it?"

The short-black-haired, blue-eyed girl nodded emphatically. "Yes, ma'am. Whatever you want, ma'am", to which Shiori responded with a satisfied "hmph" before speaking. "As you know, I've been working to cement my place as queen of this school by taking out the wimps who thought they deserved the title. Now, word has it that there are three girls from Class 3 who are _said _to be tougher. Who are they? Tell me about them."

After thinking for a few seconds, the other girl spoke up. "Y-you must mean Kagura Kuwashima, Sakaki Tsubaki, & Kaori Aida". "Go on…" Shiori replied. "Kagura is a sports girl; she's the best on the swim team, and she's also good in the other P.E. sports. All that athletic activity has given her some good muscle and coordination, and she has a bit of a temper, especially when her friends are concerned".

"Sakaki-san", she continued, Shiori noting the honorific, "is probably the most popular girl in the school. She's the absolute best in sports here – even better than the boys – and she's got this cool, calm atmosphere about her. She's _really _tall, with long, black hair. (sigh) I'm straight, but she's almost enough to change my mind on that. Uh… anyway, despite her appearances, she actually shy and quiet, and she's very devoted to her core group of friends. She's normally non-violent, but if her friends are threatened – _especially _Chiyo Mihama, who's like a little sister to her – she'll defend them with everything she's got. Also, she's naturally strong, so even a single blow could probably do massive damage."

'What _is _it with these girls and 'friendship'?" Shiori thought with a tinge of disgust.

"The last – and probably toughest – is Kaori, or 'Kaorin'. Normally, she's really nice and kind, even going out of her way to help people. She also hates to fight… usually. But… she has a huge, _huge _crush on Sakaki. Actually, I think it might be past 'crush' at this point. She's way too shy to talk to her, though".

"All this love-life info is great and all", Shiori said somewhat sarcastically, "but how is a lovesick girl a challenge for me?" To this, the other girl smirked knowingly and said, "Try talking bad about Sakaki-san in her presence and you'll see. Kaorin's absolutely wild in a fight when Sakaki's at stake. The last person who said something bad about Sakaki – some jerk-jock from the boys' running team - was down and out in less than 10 seconds".

"Interesting", Shiori mused to herself, before turning to her 'hostage'. "You can go" she said, and the other girl quickly scrambled to her feet and ran for it. Today Shiori's class was supposed to have P.E. with Class 3, and she couldn't wait to see what her next victims were like.

--

Shiori threw another dodgeball, hitting a girl with her hair in braids particularly hard in the stomach, and the girl hobbled, hunched-over, off the court. The current match-up was thus: on one side remained Tomo, who was being extraordinarily wily today and was thus proving very difficult to hit. On Shiori's side, besides the violent girl, was Kagura. As her earlier info source had stated, Kagura looked to be quite strong – a good challenge, in Shiori's opinion.

"You're goin' down, Tomo!" Kagura shouted, as she threw the ball at the smaller girl again. Tomo dodged again, and the players on the other side of her continued. For the next several seconds, Tomo artfully dodged each ball, and she was in considerably good form today as she moved with unusual skill. Finally, however, a shot from Kagura clipped her in the side, and she was out.

As Kagura & Tomo got to talking, Shiori turned her attention to the volleyball match going on. She caught sight of a skyscraper of a girl with long black hair, and reasoned that this could only be the 'Sakaki' she'd been told about. She watched as the ball came into their side of the court.

She heard an energetic "Go, Sakaki-san!" in a high girl's voice, and looked to see a short, brown-haired girl cheering the taller one on, her hands clasped to her chest in a fan-girl-like pose. This could only be Kaori. 'Wait', Shiori thought, 'that little thing is the wild fighter? You've gotta be kidding me'.

Sakaki jumped up and spiked the ball, sending it into the ground on the other side, a tall, brown-haired girl in glasses barely missing it (AN: if you don't know that's Yomi, GTFO). After looking at her three targets, Shiori made up her mind on who her first target would be.

--

Sakaki stood off on the sidelines and watched her friends interacting. Chiyo & Osaka were staring at clouds, Tomo & Yomi were… arguing, as usual, and Kagura was stretching out a few kinks in her back. She then saw Kaori. For some reason, the shy, twitchy girl had grown on her; Sakaki thought she was cute… in a high-strung, slightly-neurotic sort of way. She wondered why the poor thing always seemed so flustered.

She watched as the shy, brown-haired girl rounded a corner, but then saw another girl follow her. Sakaki recognized the newcomer as that new transfer student. She then remembered what she'd been hearing: the new girl was vicious, and had reportedly beaten up at least half a dozen other girls lately. She was suddenly very worried about Kaorin, and decided to follow.

As Shiori cornered Kaori, Sakaki took position behind a corner, peeking her head out just enough to see, as she listened to the 'conversation'.

--

Kaori was minding her own business, taking the little shortcut behind the building and back to the changing rooms she'd discovered when she suddenly felt a hand grab her shoulder… and slam her into the wall. "Wh-what the hell?" she squeaked out, as she gazed at the person before her.

She was a couple of centimeters taller than Kaori, with low-lying yet slightly-spiky light-brown hair that reached her shoulders. Her eyes were a dull grayish-blue, and there was a cocky smirk on her face. Kaori then recognized the girl: it was that violent new transfer student she'd heard about. She was suddenly quite nervous.

"Wh-what do you want?" she stammered out. "As you no doubt have heard", Shiori replied, "I'm looking to stake my claim as toughest fighter in this school. But word has it that there are three who are better than me, and that you're one of them". "Huh?" Kaori questioned, "Me?"

"But looking at you now", Shiori continued, "I'd say that the reputation was grossly over-exaggerated. You look to me like a scared little pipsqueak that couldn't hurt a gnat". Kaori bristled slightly at the remark, which Shiori noticed. "No use getting angry; you couldn't hurt me if you tried. I can see you're no threat to me, so I guess that just leaves Kagura and Sakaki".

At this, Kaori froze, before whispering out "what did you say?" "Those two probably won't last a minute against me. Actually, I think I'll save Sakaki for last, so everyone can see me beat the crap out of the so-called tough girl". Kaori was starting to shake lightly as Shiori continued, and Sakaki, watching from the corner, could tell that she was getting angry.

"And maybe after that, if she's lucky – and if she can still walk – I _might _give the bitch the privilege of being my servant. I could always use helping ha-"

Shiori was caught completely off-guard by Kaori's surprisingly-powerful right hook, stumbling back a few steps before recovering and taking a look. What she saw shocked her, as it did Sakaki watching on the sidelines. Kaori looked positively livid, her teeth bared and her eyes wide and angry. "Don't you DARE…" she snarled out, "talk about Sakaki-san like that!"

Shiori shook off the effects and glared angrily at the girl. "You little bitch! How dare you strike me?!" She charged forward with a jab, which Kaori avoided simply by tilting her head; Kaori then followed up with a left cross that was narrowly dodged by Shiori. With that, the fight started, Sakaki silently watching, amazed and a little horrified, from the sidelines.

Shiori quickly began to believe the rumors about Kaori; the girl had become almost insanely fast and skilled, blocking 7 out of every 8 of Shiori's attacks, and dealing three reasonably-powerful blows in return for each relatively light strike that got through to her. Either the girl had taken lessons or had watched a lot of shounen animé.

"This is for wanting to pick a fight with Sakaki-san!" Kaori shouted as she dealt a kick to Shiori's side. "This is for insulting her!" a blow to the pit of the stomach, knocking the wind out of Shiori. "And this is for her honor!" a hard uppercut to Shiori's chin, sending the girl to the ground, a bit of blood flying from her mouth.

Sakaki crouched silently behind the corner, staring with mouth agape. Sweet little Kaorin had just thoroughly kicked the ass of one of the toughest girls to come to the school in years. And she had done it for _her_. Kaori stood, panting, as she stared angrily at Shiori, who was not pulling herself up into a sitting position, wiping the blood from her mouth.

Kaori took a step forward, and in response Shiori threw up her hands and said "Hold up! I give!" Kaori took another step, but then stopped. "Jeez," Shiori continued, "I heard you had a crush on her, but I didn't think you'd go _this _far". At this, Sakaki gasped (thankfully, not heard by the two girls): Kaori… had a crush on her? She blushed as Kaori continued to speak.

"I would do ANYTHING for Sakaki-sama" Kaori began to speak, "I would give everything I had for her. If she was threatened, I would stand up for her. If her life was in danger, I'd risk anything and everything to save her. If she was kidnapped by a bunch of rapists, I would give myself to them in her place. I would DIE for her".

"Wow," Shiori said solemnly, "you must really love her". "With all my heart, mind, & soul" Kaori replied, "with every fiber of my being. I don't care if she doesn't feel the same way anymore. I don't even care if she knows I exist. All I know is that I love her: truly, deeply, and unconditionally". Sakaki felt tears come to her eyes as she brought her hand to her heart. 'Oh, Kaori…' she thought, 'how long have you been suffering in silence for me?'

"I see" Shiori replied as she slowly got to her feet, "I concede. You win". Kaori turned to walk away, and took a few steps, but…

"Kaori, look out!"

Sakaki's shout alerted Kaori just in time to dodge Shiori's underhanded sneak attack, grabbing the girl's outstretched arm and pulling her into a hard open-palm thrust to the girl's chest, which sent her falling backwards onto her back. Shiori then scrambled to her feet and ran as quickly as she could, cursing under her breath as she faded from earshot.

As Kaori watched the other girl scramble away, she jumped slightly as she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She turned around, and looked up into the face of… "S-Sakaki-san?" The taller girl's half-lidded eyes were a little teary, and there was a warm, slightly-trembling smile on her face.

"I heard everything" she said, and Kaori felt a sudden feeling of massive worry & fear of rejection starting to build rapidly in her. This disappeared entirely, however, when Sakaki pulled her into a tight hug, one arm wrapped around the girl's slim waist and another around her neck and shoulders. Kaori blushed, her eyes wide open in shock.

"I can't believe I've missed out for so long. I'm so sorry I didn't see it before. Can you forgive me?" "O-of course, Sakaki-sama" Kaori squeaked out, "I… I could never feel anything bad toward you". Sakaki responded by pulling Kaori closer, while tilting the shorter girl's head up to face her and putting her hand behind the girl's head. "You don't need to use 'sama' or 'san' anymore, Kaori" Sakaki replied, "From you, I'm fine with 'Sakaki'. _Just _'Sakaki'".

"Okay" Kaori barely managed to whisper out, as their faces slowly moved toward each other. Then, after over a year and half of pining, Kaori's dream finally came true: their lips met. Kaori swooned as she leaned into Sakaki, the taller girl pulling her so close it felt like they were almost one person; Kaori felt warmth that seemed to spread throughout her soul, feeling as if everything was alright and always would be. Sakaki was feeling the same thing. Sakaki moaned lightly into the kiss, and Kaori followed suit, feeling her head being pulled closer to deepen the kiss.

After almost a minute like this, they finally broke apart, panting slightly, with their faces flushed. "Wow" Kaori said, "That was, like, 100 times better than I'd imagined it would be". Sakaki giggled as she unwound herself from the girl, though she kept her arm around Kaori's waist, as the two walked off toward the changing rooms; it was getting a little too drafty to stand around outside in bloomers…

--

That night, collapsing onto her bed, Shiori was fuming. Rubbing her still-sore head, she plotted her plans for the next day. 'Tomorrow', she thought, 'that little bitch is going to pay'.

--

For all the worry Kaori had, the revealing of her and Sakaki's relationship went pretty much without a hitch. A few of the boys (and girls) seemed a little disappointed that Sakaki was no longer available, but they didn't try anything. From their main group of friends – Chiyo and company - they received nothing but support and congratulations.

It was the morning after, and Kaori seemed to almost be dancing as she made her way down the hallway past the other students. She could hardly wait to get to class so she could see her Sakaki again. Someone else, however, had other plans.

Kaori suddenly heard footsteps coming up behind her, and automatically swerved to the right, barely dodging the punch thrown by a very angry-looking Shiori. "What the?!" she shouted, drawing the attention of the other students around her, who quickly got out of the way as Kaori dodged and blocked three more swings.

"The hell's your problem?" she asked, to which Shiori replied "you are, bitch! You made me look like a fool yesterday! NO ONE gets away with causing harm to the Badass Bruiser!" "Excuse me?!" Kaori replied, "_You _were the one who attacked _me_! I only decided to fight back after _you _insulted Sakaki!"

"Whatever, but I'm going to be the toughest person here", Shiori shouted, reaching into her pocket, "no matter what I have to do to do it!" She charged again, Kaori dodging and blocking several punches and noticing that Shiori's style had changed; it was almost as if her punches were more like swings and chops than anything else.

Kaori tried a counterblow, but it was (narrowly) avoided, leaving her open for a split-second. Shiori smirked as she saw her opening, and made a rising-diagonal swing that looked like is missed. However, Kaori felt a sudden pain, and when backed up and reached up to touch her face, she brought her hand away to find blood. Her eyes widened as she saw the shining metal in Shiori's hand.

She had a knife.

The other students gasped and backed off, some running. "Now" Shiori said in a low yet dangerous voice, "you die, bitch". She charged again, Kaori rapidly dodging each potentially lethal swing and slice from Shiori's knife. Shiori upped her offensive, and Kaori was quickly put on the defensive.

Meanwhile, Sakaki walked quickly through the hallway, after seeing a couple of girls run by in the opposite direction while mentioning "Kaori", "Shiori", and "weapon". As she turned the corner, she saw Kaori dodging several swings from Shiori. Shiori then jumped back to avoid a kick from Kaori… and Sakaki saw the gleaming silver knife in her hands.

"Kaori?!" she shouted, and the shorter girl turned her head to look at her. Her face lit up and she called out "Sakaki-sa-". She stopped suddenly as she felt an intense, piercing pain. Sakaki gasped in horror as the knife sunk into the front of Kaori's left shoulder, Shiori wearing a twisted grin as she found a mark – it might not necessarily be a lethal wound, but it was a start.

"KAORI!!" Sakaki ran toward the girl as fast as her legs could carry her. Kaori gave out a few sharp gasps as she slowly raised her hand toward her shoulder. When Shiori twisted the knife and yanked it back out, Kaori screamed in agony as her hand shot up to the bleeding hole, as Shiori laughed at the girl's pain.

"Now", Shiori said, "to finish it!" She brought her weapon up to strike again, but when she brought it down Sakaki grabbed hold of her wrist, stopping the attack and holding it in an iron grip. "Wha?" Sakaki, still holding her grip, looked at Kaori. She saw the gash on the wounded girl's face, and the bloody hole in her shoulder, the uniform around it stained a sickly red. Sakaki felt tears come as she Kaori fervently trying – and failing – to hold hers back.

Shiori tried to struggle away for a few seconds, but then stopped as she noticed Sakaki starting to tremble. At first she thought the girl was crying, but then she heard a disturbing sound: a low, almost-inhuman growl. Then the older girl rose her head up, and for the first time in her life, Shiori felt undeniable terror. Sakaki's face was twisted into the epitome of rage: her eyes were wide and filled with a feral rage; her teeth were bared in a snarl. For a split-second, Shiori thought she was staring at a lion getting ready to rip her throat out. "H-how dare you?" the tall girl whispered/growled out.

BANG

The sound of Sakaki's fist impacting Shiori's face rang out through the hallway, accompanied by the sickening crack of Shiori's nose breaking in two places. The girl flew back and skidded several feet, the bloodstained knife sliding out of her grip and across the floor, as she finally came to a stop. One-Hit K.O.

Sakaki stood panting, her still-shaking fist outstretched. She was suddenly distracted as Kaori whimpered out in response to another wave of pain, and she looked down to see the girl still clutching her bleeding wound. It was at this point that Kurosawa-sensei arrived on scene, and gasped "Oh my God" at the sight. Sakaki turned to her and shouted frantically "Call an ambulance! NOW!!"

--

School was canceled for the rest of the day. The ambulance came as quickly as possible, Sakaki riding along with Kaori, keeping the girl calm. Their friends followed soon after, driven by Yukari & Minamo.

Fortunately, the knife had missed the nerves that controlled Kaori's arm, though it had clipped a blood vessel, and she had almost needed a transfusion. Late that afternoon, Kaori lay resting in the hospital bed, Sakaki holding her hand as the two started into each other's eyes, unspoken words passing between them. They were interrupted as seven other people practically rushed into the room. "Kaori-san, are you alright?" Chiyo asked excitedly, as Kagura continued "we saw everything; one of the guys watching had a video camera on him". "Yeah", Tomo said, "that was amazing how Sakaki-san knocked that girl out with one blow!" This earned a bonk on the head from Yomi.

"How're you feeling, Kaorin?" Minamo said softly as she walked up to the girl (AN: despite her single status, Minamo has – at least in my stories – a powerful mother's instinct, and cares for the girls as such). "I'm okay", Kaori replied, "but I still feel kinda weak". "That's to be expected with all the blood you lost" Yomi replied.

"You were amazing too, Kaorin" Osaka said, "what with how you were all dodgin' and weavin' and stuff. I wish I could move like that; maybe then I wouldn't come in last in all the sports". Kaori chuckled lightly "Thanks. Um… what happened to Shiori?"

"Arrested" Yukari replied, "she's gonna be locked up in juvie for at least a year. Good riddance, I'd say". "But enough about her" Chiyo said, "we're all just glad you're gonna be okay". "Yeah" Kaori replied, "but the doctors say I'm gonna have a couple of scars. They say the one on my cheek will be barely noticeable, but… I don't know…"

Kaori then felt Sakaki wrap her arms around her. "I don't care what you look like" Sakaki said, "You're still beautiful to me". "S-Sakaki…" Kaori choked out, as she returned the hug. Cue the image of the two in chibi form with lots of little hearts flying out of them.

As the two snuggled, Yomi turned to Tomo and said "Aren't you gonna crack some lame joke?" Tomo turned to Yomi with a (slightly-exaggerated) look of shock and said "Are you kidding? Love is one thing I don't tease people about; it's just too pure". "Maybe you're a little more mature than I thought" Yomi said.

As Kaori basked in the familiar warm feeling, she took comfort in the love from Sakaki, the care and support from her friends… and the sick satisfaction that Shiori never did get her shot at Kagura…

END

--

And that is that. Now why don't you go make some Kaorin/Sakaki fics of your own? needs more.

Please R&R, but no flames. Flamers will BURN!

Inferno: BUUURN, MAXIMALS!!

NOT NOW, INFERNO!

Inferno: Sorry, my queen.

Call me that again and I'll shove your blaster so far up your exhaust pipe you'll feel it in your throat.

Bye!


End file.
